Press Contact

UNH Information

Dignitaries to speak, scientists available for interviews, tours of research vessel and aircraft Monday, July 26

WHAT: Media Day for the New England Air Quality Study, part of the International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation (ICARTT) study. Dignitaries and scientists will be available for interviews, and tours of scientific platforms will be conducted.

11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Visit Pease International Tradeport for tours of research aircraft used in the study, including the NASA DC-8 and NOAA P-3 "flying laboratories." Scientists coordinating land and sea operations will discuss the study and be available to answer questions. Box lunches will be provided.

1:30 p.m. - Return to dock, board R/V Brown no later than 1:30 for two-hour cruise as ship begins second leg of field study in the Gulf of Maine. Opportunity to talk to scientists about the ship's role in the study and equipment developed and used.

3:30 p.m. - At-sea transfer to UNH R/V Gulf Challenger for return to Portsmouth dock. Please note this is an at-sea transfer and includes using a Jacob's ladder to move from one ship to the other.

DETAILS: Opportunity for media to tour NOAA Research Vessel Ronald H. Brown and visit NASA, NOAA, and other research aircraft used in the largest air quality study being conducted through August in New England. Also, opportunity to meet scientists working on the project at the halfway point of the field study. The campaign, which is using seacoast New Hampshire as its major platform hub, involves hundreds of scientists from six countries, 12 airplanes, the Ron Brown, high-tech balloons, satellites, and a network of state-of-the-art ground-based observing stations, including UNH's Atmospheric Investigation, Regional Modeling, Analysis, and Prediction or AIRMAP atmospheric observatories. The study focuses on understanding sources of air pollution in the Northeast by differentiating local, regional and distant sources, and by analyzing the transport and chemical evolution of large air masses.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Space on the Brown for the 1:30 event is limited and media must reserve in advance. Please contact David Sims at the above number by July 21. Those going aboard should wear appropriate clothing and footwear (closed-toe shoes with rubber soles). Arrangements can be made for reporters interested in touring AIRMAP observing stations on Appledore Island (before or after July 26) and at Thompson Farm Observing Station in Durham before, after, or on July 26. Please take note that NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory carries a full compliment of scientists and their instruments for this mission. Some flight profiles call for altitudes as low as 1,000 feet or spiral descents or other maneuvers not normally flown by a commercial aircraft.

Directions to the NH State Port Authority and Pease International Tradeport, will be available at the ICARTT web site at http://www.al.noaa.gov/ICARTT/Newsroom.

Contact:

David Sims,
UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space:
603-862-5369; david.sims@unh.edu